The fallacy of cauterization exposed

Front matter

EKRATA.

On page 25 (Introduction), line 14, for " monopoly " read mendacity. On page 26 (Introduction), line 5, for " setons ,; read caustic. On page 33, line 3, for " satisfied at " read satisfied with. On page 107, line 5, for " Man " read Mankind.

" 136, " 3, " " anatomosing " read anastomosing.

Preface

The exceeding importance of the author's " New American Medico-Mechanical Treatment of Spermatorrhoea and its Results," including his original Theory upon which this System is founded, together with the favorable reception which his previously published medical works have met with, especially his " Medical Information for the Million," which has passed through fifteen large editions since it first appeared in 1850, and also his "Kicord's Practice Explained," induce him to issue the present volume, substituting reading matter in place of such illustrations as might be in the least objectionable to the most fastidious ; thus rendering it free from those objections which are generally made against works treating upon this class of diseases, and which, it must be admitted, are usually filled with very disgusting, not to say obscene, engravings — filthy and ridiculous caricatures, rather than faithful delineations of disease, the object of which is to frighten rather than instruct the over-credulous reader.

Although the views of M. Lallemand on Spermatorrhoea have unquestionably exercised much influence, .and the Treatment advocated by him was at one time adopted by surgeons more theoretical than practical, perhaps, still, a number of years having elapsed since his work was given to the profession, the subsequent teachings of experience have, it is to be presumed, served greatly to disabuse the over-sanguine advocates of cauterization with regard to the utility of their once favorite method. The author has, therefore, thought it highly opportune to give to the afflicted the benefit of his very active and extended experience in the treatment of a disease, which, more than most others (Syphilis excepted), is of such vast importance to Young Men, and others who may, unforfortunately, have become the victims of seminal diseases.

The causes, also, of the different varieties of Spermatorrhoea, are, in this work, investigated with the aid of modern pathology, from which, combined with the more recent experience of the author in the use of his Medicated Bougie, the Veratrum Viride, &c, &c, he flatters himself that he has finally succeeded in deducing a rationally scientific System of Curative Treatment. Whatever deficiencies, therefore, upon this head, may have been caused in the works of Lallemand, Wilson, and a few other European (and American) surgeons, by the progress of isolated or individual experience and discovery in Medical Science in America, will, it is believed, be found to be in this work effectively supplied..

Having now for a long term of years given his undivided attention and study to such branches of medical science as he has treated upon in his medical writings— particularly Spermatorrhoea, Stricture, and Syphilis— the author cannot but believe himself calculated to inspire that implicit confidence in his honor, skill, and experience, which patients should feel in those in whose hands they place themselves in matters of such delicacy and importance. It is quite compatible with all reason and argument to consider that surgeons whose talents and efforts have been so long coiicentrated upon One Particular Branch of Their Profession, should be the most suitable ones to apply to in those cases appertaining to that particular specialty or branch. It were almost superfluous to point out to parties suffering from these diseases, the great advantages which must accrue to them by availing themselves of the experience, which such surgeons (if they are careful) cannot but obtain ; for it is evident that they must possess the immense advantage of superior skill over those who have engaged their attention in the promiscuous study of disease and medicine. It is a well known fact that those maladies in which the author's practice is principally involved do not receive from medical men in ordinary practice that careful study and observation which are so essentially requisite before they can be properly understood ; while in most instances, they are entirely excluded.

Should the painful but necessary task which the writer has undertaken require an apology, he begs leave to observe that it is not alone for the vicious he writes, but for the unfortunate ; that these diseases may be contracted in a variety of ways, and without the smallest degree of criminality ; and that such as are wretched enough to have become thus undesignedly and unknowingly the victims of contagion, will be the most likely either from ignorance or delicacy to fall sacrifices to a most cruel disease.* Moreover, as the passions will remain ungovernable whilst human nature continues, from want of due enlightenment, to be frail, endeavors to lessen an unavoidable evil, and to rescue from an untimely fate, or loathsome existence, individuals who, from unwillingness to avail themselves of the services of the family medical attendant, are driven to the necessity of placing confidence where too frequently none is due : endeavors such as these, it is supposed, will be conceded to be a work of moral and political rectitude, — for in the one case it is a duty to alleviate the distresses of our fellow-creatures, and in the other every life saved is an addition to the strength and riches of the state.

This work is divided, for convenience-sake, into two Parts, in the first of which will be found, among other matters, a brief and interesting summary of Ricord's Practice in Syphilitic and Gonorrheal Diseases ; the object of which is to show, at a glance, the principles of this admirable method in contrast

* Reference is here made, more particularly, to the " Venereal Disease."

with the hazardous routine course pursued by the empirics or charlatans of the times. In this Part is also given all the important practical points relating to the researches of Ricord on Inoculation, in its application to the study of Syphilis and Non-specific maladies. The second Part of the book is a Complete Practical Treatise on Spermatorrhoea, and all other Seminal diseases, including those Nervous, Mental, and Consumptive complaints arising therefrom, and which will be found worthy of a careful perusal.

The writer of this book has discarded, as much as possible, the use of terms which few, besides the professional man, are conversant with ; he has written (unavoidably in haste) down to the comprehension of the smallest capacity ; and has endeavored to convey practical information, regardless alike of elegance of diction, or the beauty of nicely-turned periods. May it be productive of much good !

New York, April, 1859,

Contents

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION 3

EDITORIAL 4

NOTE ON THE YERATRUM VIRIDE 5

Part I. A Series Of Original Practical Essays

ESSAY THE FIRST.

RICORD S PRACTICE EXPLAINED.

The object of this essay — The difference between Ricord's Practice and the ultra-mercurial method — False names and filthy books — Ricord on syphilitic inoculation — Rapidity of cure and safety to the constitution — Ricord denounces the indiscriminate use (abuse) of all remedies — Denies the infallibility, or positive reliability, of mercury, &c. , &c. , in the cure of Venereal — Convenience of the New Medicines, being odorless and tasteless — Ricord's Practice based on the General and Fundamental Principles of Medicine — Contrasted with the Mercurial or Quack method — The terrible effects of said method — Mercury and the nitrate of silver — Author's reason for publicly practising in sexual diseases — Moderate fees vs. exorbitant demands — His success. SEMINAL DISEASES. General application of Ricord's Practice in the treatment of these diseases — Badly managed by the charlatanism of the day — Injurious effects of cauterization, mechanical appliances, &c. — Caution to patients — Enumeration of some of the more important diseases of the sexual system — Elongation and contraction of the foreskin can be cured without an operation — Varicocele an unsuspected cause of impotence — Piles can often be cured without the knife or ligature — SYNOPSIS OF SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES. Syphilis (chancre)— Syphilitic bubo — Constitutional syphilis — Gonorrhoea — Gleet — Stricture — A good rule to observe — Seminal emissions 29-37

ESSAY THE SECOND.

ON INOCULATION AS APPLIED TO THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF SYPHILITIC DISEASES.

Observation by Earle — Chancre produced by matter secreted by a chancre only — The first stage, or period of ulceration — When a chancre is but a simple ulcer — Local signs of syphilitic inoculation — Description of cbancre — Indurated chancre most frequently followed by secondary symptoms — On the plurality of venereal poisons — Inoculation sets this matter at rest — The uniform action of syphilitic virus — Effects of constitution, mode of living, local treatment, &c, on chancre — Chancres of eighteen months' standing capable of propagation — Buboes — Ricord's conclusions with regard to bubo — " Bubons d'emblee" — Ricord's opinions on inoculation — Discharges frorn the urinary passage, gonorrheal and syphilitic — Concealed chancres of the urethra — Inoculation to be frequently tested — Caution to the inexperienced 38-45

ESSAY THE THIRD.

SOLITARY HABIT — WRITTEN ESPECIALLY AS A WARNING TO

YOUTH, NOT TO FRIGHTEN, BUT TO AWAKEN.

Description — The seminal secretion — Its effects on men and animals — The microscope — Lascivious dreams — Celebrated authors on immoderate coition — Tabes Dorsalis — Drs. Woodward, Woodbridge, Combe, &c. , on self-abuse — Letter to Dr. Hammond, from a physician — Lypria described — Madness, and frightful dreams — Pimples on the face, &c. — Vital importance to youth of knowledge upon this subject — Dr. Trousseau's thrilling description of the effects of this vice — Tulpius — Mr. Harper — The passion, love — Seminal pollutions — A graphic picture — Dr. Rast's case — Proper treatment the patient's only hope — Very interesting cases — Treatment — General remedies, moral, physical, and medico-mechanical — The Medicated Bougie, Veratrum Viride, &c. — Diet and regimen — Prescriptions — Concluding remarks — New York Anatomical Museum 46-70

TO PARENTS, GUARDIANS, SCHOOLMASTERS, AND THOSE WHO

ARE INTRUSTED WITH THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH.

Case — General remarks — Confidence and steady perseverance in the treatment essential — How to render a substantial benefit to society — Two modes of cure , 71-74

ESSAY THE FOURTH.

DANGEROUS ILLUSIONS.

The use of " safes" is but another form of onanism — " A shield against pleasure, a cobweb against disease " — Local mechanical appliances never cure, but always aggravate seminal disease — One of the most frequent causes of sterility — The cause of semen becoming mixed with the urine explained — Rapid glance at the author's theory and treatment of seminal diseases in general — Advice to youth — Showing how " safes " are positively a dangerous reliance — Not a sure preventive of pregnancy — Ricord's opinion with regard to " safe-onanism.'" 75-79

ESSAY THE FIFTH.

ON A NEW AND ABSOLUTELY PAINLESS MODE OF TREATING STRICTURES OF THE URETHRA WITHOUT INSTRUMENTS.

General description of stricture — bridle stricture, the corded stricture, and the ribbon stricture — Spasmodic stricture — Old treatment and new treatment — The Veratrum Viride — Inflammatory stricture — Treatment — Permanent stricture — Causes — Symptoms — A few of the most harassing symptoms — Author's treatment without caustic or the bougie — Mr. John Hunter, of England, Mr. Howe. Mr. Whately, and Ambrose Pare — Interesting letter — Veratrum Viride, Iodine, and their auxiliaries — Two important objects to be obtained in the cure, viz., relaxation and absorption — Success of the new method — Its advantages to patients 80-89

ESSAY THE SIXTH.

THE VENEREAL DISEASE.

Poetical description — Opinions of Ricord and the late Dr. Wallace — Origin of the disease a mystery — History of venereal — Voltaire on this subject — Gonorrhoea and Syphilis distinct diseases — Gonorrhoea, and its various synonyms — Gonorrhoea not a specific disease — Reasons for this opinion given — ■ Symptoms of Gonorrhoea — Gleet — Stricture — Copaiha and cuhehs — Wrong treatment — Case of C. J. B. — Great skill required to treat gonorrhoea successfully — Symptoms of the later stage of this disease — Gleet does not terminate in a spontaneous cure — Clap passing into gleet — Cuhehs and copaiba — J. D.'s case — A sufferer for forty years — Syphilis — Nature of syphilis — Syphilis contracted by smoking a dirty pipe — Characteristics of chancre — Evils of mercury — How black-wash is made — Secondary symptoms — Do not procrastinate, but commence the treatment in time — Concise description of Secondary or Constitutional syphilis — Nodes 90-10-1

ESSAY THE SEVENTH.

PLAIN AND EASY RULES FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH.

105-107

NOTICE.

TIME AND MONEY SAVED BY EARLY ATTENTION TO DISEASE.

Part II

A TEEATISE ON SPERMATORRHEA, AND ITS CONCOMI- TANT DISEASES— NERVOUS, MENTAL, AND CONSUMP- TIVE AFFECTIONS, ETC.

REMARKS ON THE AUTHOR'S PECULIAR MODE OF TREATMENT.

Characteristic observation of Dr. Franklin's — The resources of the physician must not he limited to the American and English Pharmacopoeias — All lands must bo ransacked — Reliance not to be placed exclusively on the vegetable, or the animal and mineral domains — The poet's advice to be followed — Seize upon good medicines where'er they are found — Not done by the majority of physicians — A mystery — Few remedies in the U. S. or British Pharmacopoeias that can be relied upon — Ordinary medicines cannot cure spermatorrhoea, or any form of private disease — Reliability of mercury denied — Author's treatment not the routine or every-day" method — Is against all secret remedies whatever — His claim to a peculiar treatment established — Brief explanation of the Eclectic system — Not the botanic, nor the animal and mineral, but it includes them all — Prof. Rafiihesque's definition of Eclecticism - 114-118

FALSE DELICACY.

Spurious hashfulness — Fashionable ideas vs. genuine modesty — Physiology as a branch of education — Nature's impulses — An absurd objection — Advice to those who sneer — Patriotic address to professional men — The portion of the Onanist on earth 119-123

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.

Medicated Bougie, The Veratrum Viride, Iodine, &c. — Testimonial to the author — Two distinct methods for curing seminal complaints — The constitutional method a slower, but none the less sure means — The local, or medico-mechanical system, both rapid and radical — The patient's choice of methods governed by circumstances — Absurdity of "specific" and external mechanical treatment only — The cerebellum and spinal nerves involved in spermatorrhoea, impotence, &c. — Author's theory and treatment at once scientific and plain — All may understand them at a glance — Brief description — Treatment by the Medicated Bougie a painless one — The writer's new internal remedies tasteless and odorless, rather agreeable than otherwise , being gelatinized and confectioned — Explanation of Mons. Lalleniand's theory and practice — Refutation — Loss of Vitality in the Sexual Nervous System, not " inflammation," the only true or real cause of seminal disease — Cure by author's system effected in half the time possible by any other method extant — No risk run by the new American method — Mischief resulting from cauterization — The inflammation and pain caused by it frequently last, according to Lallemand, "about two weeks" — A painful, unsafe, and generally ineffectual mode — Lallemand's admissions with regard to his plan — Diseases produced by cauterization — Spermatorrhoea a very prevalent and terrible complaint among young men — A continual drain from the system — Grindle's remarks on cauterization, &c. — The importance of knowing every symptom — The honorable surgeon the patient's only reliance in sickness 124-132

Chapter II. The Male Organs Of Generation

Anatomical description .... 133-141

Chapter III. Self-abuse

The terms Onanism, masturbation, self-pollution, &c. , considered — Self-abuse practised by very young children — Epilepsy, fits, etc., produced by this vice — Death resulting from self-abuse — Lallemand's case — Idiocy — Precocious developement of the sexual instinct — A more cruel deity than Moloch — Large schools hot-beds for this vice — Results of past actions — Case — How masturbation is commenced — Sinning in ignorance — Weakness and nervous debility — " Better late than never " 142-149

CHAPTER IY.

SPERMATORRHOEA.

Cause of spermatorrhoea — Nature of spermatorrhoea — Results of excessive sexual intercourse — Enormous quantity of semen passed — Erotic dreams and nocturnal pollutions — Attack during sleep — Diurnal emissions — Cause of barrenness — Vitiated seminal fluid — Resolved to commit suicide — Happy denouement — Sir A. Cooper on impotence — Commence in time .... 150-158

CHAPTER Y.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON SPERMATORRHOEA, Ac, &c. — THE

CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, PREVENTION, AND CURE, BY A NEW AND

ENTIRELY ORIGINAL SYSTEM OF TREATMENT.

Description, causes, and symptoms — Numerous synonyms — Young men the most frequent victims — Unsuspected cause of pulmonary consumption — Destroys nine tenths of the human race — Prof. Bohn's classification — Symptoms — Complete loss of power and retention — The immediate cause — The principal causes — Capillar}' congestion — General symptoms — Inclination to commit suicide — True nature of the local disease — Loss of vitality — Where ? 159-164

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

ON THE NEW TREATMENT OF SPERMATORRHEA AND ITS CON- COMITANT DISEASES, BY MEANS OF THE AMERICAN YERATRUM

yiride, spts. formic, the author's MEDICATED BOU- GIE, THE PREPARATIONS OF IODINE, ETC.

How seminal losses are to be arrested — Constitutional treatment — Local treatment — Why the medico-mechanical, or local treatment, is the best — Value of the Yeratrum Yiride and Iodine , with their auxiliaries — Physiology and composition of semen — Yauquelin's chemical analysis — The spermatozoa — The cause of impregnation — Deposition of seminal fluid in the urine — Observation by Brau concerning respectable married men — General treatment — Special treatment — Seminal Gleet 165-171

CHAPTER VII.

IMPOTENCE A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE AUTHOR'S NEW THE- ORY THEREON. — THE FALLACY OF CAUTERIZATION DEMON- STRATED.

Different kinds of impotence — Causes — The immediate cause — Brief allusion to Lallemand's theory and treatment — Confutation of his main argument — The fallacy of cauterization exposed — Inflammation of the seminal ducts proved by French anatomists not to be the cause of spermatorrhoea, impotence, &c. — The author's Theory fully established by post-mortem examinations — The researches of anatomical science triumphant — Remote causes — Masturbation — Absence of the spermatozoa — Accumulation of urine a powerful exciting cause of impotence in old men 172-176

CHAPTER VIII.

TREATMENT OF IMPOTENCE.

Sketch of the original theory on which the author's treatment is based, quoted from Medical Information, &c. — Stimulants and excitants mere placeboes in this disease — The cause of impotence lying deeper, requires more potent and suitable means of relief — Yalue of the Yeratrum Viride and its adjuncts, together with the Medicated Bougie — Iodine and Spirit. Formic, a valuable compound — Consummation of the connubial union — Worn-out condition of the nervous system — ^Etherization, gelatinization, and confection of medicines — Late chemical discoveries ' of Joeckel — Admixture of semen with the urine infallibly cured — Author's treatment, in conjunction with his Medicated Bougie, removes this symptom in less than half the time required by any other method extant 177-180

CHAPTER IX.

ON URINARY DEPOSITS AND DISEASES.

Semen in the urine — Yery frequently caused by the use of spermatorrhoea rings, &c. , for the "cure" of involuntary seminal emissions — A neverfailing and painless method for the removal of this formidable symptom, is The Medicated Bougie, Yeratrum Yiride, Spirit. Formic. iEther., Iodine, and their adjuncts — The length of time necessary, by this method, to effect a perfectly satisfactory cure — Men of all ages, up to sixty years, made hale and lusty, where no organic defect originally exists — Sterility or barrenness in r women, invariably cured by the author's treatment — Cautionary footnote — The number of applications of the Medicated Bougie necessary — Treatment by Lallemand's cauterizing method has been totally abandoned b}' the author for more than five years — No practical surgeon should ever employ it — Request to persons addressing the writer 181-183

CHAPTER X.

THE CHEMISTRY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND PATHOLOGY OF URINE.

Color, odor, and temperature of pure urine — Abnormal urines, blue, black, and violet — Chemical analysis by Dr. Marchand, Prof. Lehman, and others — Abnormal constituents of urine — Urinary calculi — Great importance of the urine in the treatment of disease. URINARY DEPOSITS. Characteristics of healthy urine — The three-fold functions of the kidneys — Three distinct varieties of urine — Origin of the elements of urine — Relation between the kidneys and the lungs — Evil effects of spermatorrhoea on the digestive organs. UREA. Beautiful microscopical appearance of its crystals — Its excess in urine constitutes disease — Symptoms in connection with spermatorrhoea. THE NEWLY DISCOVERED ACIDS IN THE URINE. Absolute importance of microscopically and chemically analyzing the urine, by which, if properly done, the cure of spermatorrhoea is greatly facilitated — New acids discovered by Dr. Marcet — Elementary constituents of the pigment of urine. URIC AND LITHIC ACIDS. Symptoms of uric acid in the urine — General appearance of this acid — Its relation to stone in the bladder. THE URINARY PHOSPHATES. Difficulty of discovering these deposits — Appearance of their crystals — Frequently mistaken for cloudy mucus — Though chemically difficult of detection, examined by the microscope they at once became apparent — Symptoms — Causes. ALBUMIN- URIA. Inflammation giving rise to albuminous disease of kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra — A very frequent but insidious disease, only to be detected by careful study and chemical research — Old authors describe this disease as a ' : premature decaj r of nature " — Albuminous urine most important, because most frequent and readily recognizable — When acute, the disease is rapid in progress and of fatal tendency — Symptoms — Degeneration of the kidneys— Symptoms so often overlooked by most patients as to be seldom well cured — Generally occurs in the prime of life — Easily overlooked by a careless observer — Anaemia, or paleness, a characteristic feature of the disease — In young girls, degeneration of kidneys and albuminuria often fatally mistaken and treated for ordinary chlorosis, or " green sickness " — General state of system during this disease — Frightful errors committed in treating spermatorrhoea for albuminuria, and vice versa, might be easily prevented by skilful examination of the urine — Diagnosis. DIABETES. Two varieties of the disease — Appearances in each — Extraordinary quantity of urine secreted, being occasionally several gallons — Symptoms — Diabetes frequent in broken-down constitutions — Spermatorrhoea a prolific cause of the disease — Its fatal tendency 184-200

CHAPTER XI.

SUMMARY OF THE NEW AMERICAN TREATMENT OF SPERMA- TORRHOEA, &c, &c, BY MEANS OF THE AUTHOR'S MEDICATED BOUGIE, THE YERATRUM YIRIDE, IODINE, AND THEIR AUX- ILIARIES. 201-207

Conclusion

The great importance of carefully watching urinary diseases, to prevent them from multiplying, and thus rendering their cure difficult — Imperative necessity of the microscope for detecting semen in the urine, through the presence of spermatozoa — How this process is conducted — Chevalier's powerful microscope — Not always an easy thing to detect the spermatozoa — Their refractive power — Imperfectly formed spermatozoa — Once their presence is discovered, the treatment of spermatorrhoea becomes easy — Urinm Sanguinis, or morning urine — Author's method of examining the samples of urine sent to him — By this scientific invention, a decided opinion of the case can be formed — Observation to patients who -wish a thorough and permanent cure — An important case — Its result 207-210

CHAPTER XII.

LIST OF A FEW CASES SUCCESSFULLY TREATED, EITHER BY CONSTITUTIONAL MEANS, OR THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE

MEDICATED BOUGIE, and other adjuncts.— QUE- RIES, &c. 211-218 CHAPTER XHI.

NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASES— EXHAUSTION, HYSTERIA, HYPOCHONDRIASIS, &c., &C

These diseases are slow and insidious in their approach — Great variety of forms which they assume — The honorable physician's claims to public favor — Experience is the only grand criterion of a physician's skill — Nervous diseases very prevalent in this country — Should claim our sympathy, not our contempt — Numerous diseases included under this head— Symptoms of nervous debility — One particular symptom — Effects of genital weakness upon the great nervous centres — Nervous affections imitate, or simulate, almost every other disease — Seldom alike in different persons, or even always in the same person — They affect both body and mind — Erroneous notions concerning these diseases — Internal symptoms of hypochondria — The fear of death united with a desire to commit suicide — Violent imagination — How nervous disease begins — Horrid dreams — Physicians generally unacquainted with these complaints — Causes — Excessive venery a prominent cause — Nervous exhaustion, or a want of vital action — The miserable practice of a destructive habit — Disappointment in life — Intense application to study — What the aim of the physician should be — Concluding remarks 219-226

CHAPTER XIV.

THE TREATMENT OF NERVOUS DISEASES.

The Spirit. Formic, Veratrum Viride, Iodine, and their auxiliaries, the chief and only certain remedies — The Medicated Bougd3, also, when these diseases are accompanied with spermatorrhoea, &c. , and a speedy cure is important to the patient — Eat little and often — The kinds of food necessary — Avoid excesses — Prescription for a tonic cordial — Late or heavy suppers injurious—Beware of drams — The above-mentioned remedies invaluable — When are they efficacious ? — Their revitalizing effects — The best modes of exercise — Air — How flannel waistcoats should be worn — Effects of early rising and exercise before breakfast — Violent exercise after meals bad — Exercise in gout — Horseback exercise — Moderate dancing in the open air beneficial — Common errors respecting exercise — The Veratrum Viride, &c., as a substitute for, or preliminary aid to, exercise — " Catching cold " — Sleep — The proper duration of sleep— A good sign of health — In what a perfect digestion consists — The value of I odine and Veratrum Viride in imparting tone to the stomach and nerves — They give a fine youthful complexion — Judicious remarks of Dr. Blandeau — Diet and regimen — Nervous diseases can be effectually cured, without fail, by the means laid down — Peruvian bark — Prescriptions — The only way to secure a radical and satisfactory cure 227-236

CHAPTER XY.

CONSUMPTION, GENERAL AND PULMONARY.

General description — The result either of scrofulous inflammation of the lungs, or of sexual excesses, or both — Causes — They are various — Among the most prominent of these is secret vice, producing genital weakness, nervous exhaustion, &c. — The common use of mercurials— A hundred thousand persons die annually of consumption in this Union alone — Twothirds of this number die before the age of thirty-five — Incidental remarks on self-abuse — Symptoms — Very numerous — Author's division of consumption into two stages — Even to the last the patient seldom thinks death is near 237-240

CHAPTER XVI.

TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION.

Roast beef and mutton, and generous wine, recommended — Friction, exercise, warmth — Iron and salt prescribed, and the reason for doing so given — Observation on the free use of stimulants — The judicious employment of remedial means of vast importance — Judgment and experience the two great land-marks of the plrysician — The value of woman's milk in this disease—Case reported by Dr. Burroughs, an English East India physician — Dr. Mendon's case — Diet, regimen, &c. — Boerhaave's opinion of buttermilk — Dr. Barrington's opinion — Prescription — The kind of air proper for consumptives — Coltsfoot flowers, tusseligo, and hone)' — Shell fish, game, Port wine — Confection of red roses an important remedy — Tonic cordial — Pulverized Peruvian bark superior to quinine — Mode of prescribing it — Economical method for making lime-water — A medicinal Preparation for colds, coughs, and consumption, of extraordinary efficacy, and in which there is no failure — Nitrous acid for night-sweats — Recipe — CASES 241-248

CONCLUDING CHAPTER.

Immense advantage to patients of applying early for treatment — A speedy, safe, and permanent cure the result — Disadvantages of procrastination — Cure thereby rendered more tedious and difficult — How much depends upon the prudence and judgment of the 'physician ! — Injudicious treatment productive of the saddest consequences — Improper mercurial treatment often the cause of consumption — Mercurial palsy — Thirteen years' experience and observation in Venereal Practice — Extensive prevalence of nervous debility — It is seen everywhere — Its melancholy effects — Family or general practitioners debarred by " professional etiquette" from treating private diseases — What they do and do not, when consulted in such cases — They never ask : " Do you commit self- abuse?" — The reason for this — One of the bad consequences of masturbation — The benefits conferred upon patients through the medium of specialities — Their encouraging effects upon patients manifest — Wherefore? — The author deems it not only desirable, but indispensable, to see his patients in all cases of spermatorrhoea , wherein the party desires a speedy cure, by means of the Medicated Bougie — The presumable reason why certain " doctors " do not desire to see their patients — No honest physician declines seeing his patients — Author's suggestion to patients — Write first, call afterwards ; thus all unpleasantness is obviated — Advantages of this plan — Benefits resulting to patients by the faculty ignoring sexual diseases — Nervous debility not always the result of spermatorrhoea or sexual abuses — The general or' ordinary practitioner does not, unfortunately for the patient, make any distinction on this head, hence the danger of his treatment — The dilemma in which this places patients who consult the " family physician" — The case not being understood, through mutual embarrassment and reserve, is consequently maltreated — Aim of this Book — Dr. Franklin's observation respecting self-treatment — Stupid and sinister attempts of quacks at beguiling the afflicted into becoming their own physicians — The result— Author's opinion and desire on this subject 249-256